Al-Manar Announces Withdrawal from the “Arab States Broadcasting Union”

Local Editor

The Lebanese Media Group (including Al-Manar TV and Al-Nour Radio station) announced on Tuesday it’s withdrawing its membership in the Arab States Broadcasting Union.

The Al-Manar TV General Director Ibrahim Farhat said in a statement addressed to the Director General of the ‘Arab countries Broadcasting Union’, Abdul Rahim Suleiman, that “when we found that the role that we can play for the sake of boosting this Union may be nonexistent, we have decided to withdraw from the Arab States Broadcasting Union.”

“The decision was based on our vision of the role of media that’s assigned to the Arab States Broadcasting Union as a professional federation that seeks to contribute to the advancement and sublimity of Arab media,” the statement said.

Arab regional satellite operator Arabsat abruptly stopped broadcasting Al-Manar TV last week without explanation and in violation of the contract signed between the parties.

“This decision was taken in view of the current conditions in which we noticed that some countries are pressuring the Union to deviate it from its original role that is based on diversity and plurality,” Al-Manar statement added.

The statement ended up saying that the withdrawal decision came “to maintain the positive contributions of the Lebanese Media Group (Al-Manar TV channel and Al-Nour Radio station) since it joined your association in 2001 believing in the objectives of the Union.”